Breaking
by Alexiah Rose
Summary: In which Belle and Cora struggle over secrets, memories and the key to the true heart of the Dark One.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello dearies! I'm quite new to this fandom, and this is my first OUAT story, so please be gentle with it! :)_

_Since this fandom is soooo huge (I've never been part of a big fandom before), I haven't been able to get through all of your stories. So, if I've unwittingly stolen anyone's idea, I am truly sorry._

_Just to set the scene a bit, this occurs pretty much straight after The Outsider, in season two. However, in my version, Rumple decided to delay his trip in order to make sure that Belle was safe from Hook. Thus, Belle didn't get shot, and didn't lose her memories. _

_Obviously, I don't own the characters._

_I hope you like it :)_

**Breaking**

**Chapter One**

Belle nudged the back door open using her hip, her hands being already occupied by two takeaway coffees and a paper bag from Granny's. It seemed that this world held a never-ending supply of culinary wonders for her to uncover. This week's discovery was the custard Danish, and she could practically feel her blood sugar rising in anticipation of sharing her new favourite treat with her favourite reformed beast. It would be nice to spend some time together in relative peace and normalcy after yesterday's rather dramatic encounter with Captain Hook. Belle wanted to take care of Rumple a little, to relax and refocus him before he set off in search of his son. She smiled to herself as she laid their morning tea out on the table and made her way through to the shop.

As she rounded the corner into the main display area, the sound of voices reached her ears. Belle French wasn't usually one for eavesdropping, but something in the hushed tones of the conversation made her uneasy. She paused beside the counter, out of sight of Mr Gold and the woman with whom he spoke. Her top teeth caught her bottom lip in a tell-tale gesture of curiosity as she watched and listened.

'I only know what you taught me, Master. So, will you accept my offer of a truce?'

'Truce,' Rumple replied, extending his hand to the elegant, honey-voiced woman.

'Let's seal it like we used to.'

Belle felt her stomach twist and her arms begin to ache helplessly as she watched the stranger kiss her Rumple. And he, he just stood there, his eyes closed. Why didn't he fight her?

'Wh... What's going on?' Belle's voice quaked as she made her presence known.

Rumple jumped back from the woman's embrace, lifting his right hand to his lips, as though her kiss had burned him. He turned his gaze toward Belle, his face contorting with... what? Pain? Regret? Confusion? His mouth fell open as he tried to form an explanation, but it seemed that his voice couldn't keep up with his racing thoughts.

The woman, on the other hand, was having no such problems.

'And who is this?' she cooed at Belle with sickeningly sweet condescension. She looked Belle up and down before turning back to Rumple. 'My, my, Rumple. These play things of yours keep getting younger and younger.'

'What's your name, little girl?' the woman continued as she slowly approached Belle, who silently stared straight past her to Rumple, her hands forming fists by her sides. The woman paused and made a face, clearly unimpressed by Belle's passivity.

'Hm. Bit timid for you, isn't she, Rumple? Still, quite a pretty little thing,' she mused as she reached out to touch the younger woman's hair.

Belle felt her own hand shoot up, as if by reflex, and grab the woman's wrist.  
'_Don't_ touch me,' she spat with a viciousness which shocked herself as much as it did Rumple. Belle had faced a lot of suffering in her life, a lot of pain. But this... this burning jealousy, this stabbing feeling of betrayal. This was entirely new.

Glancing at the woman only long enough to see her smile slyly, Belle released her grip on the intruder's wrist and returned her attention to the reeling Rumplestiltskin.

'Rumple,' she demanded, 'Who is this?'

'Belle,' he stammered, 'I can explain.'

'_Who is this?'_ she repeated through clenched teeth.

Rumple looked to the ground, knowing he'd be unable to bear watching realisation dawn in Belle's beautiful blue eyes as, with a very small voice, he spoke the woman's name.

'Cora.'

He winced as he heard Belle take a sharp breath.

'Cora,' she repeated. 'Regina's mother, Cora? Queen of Hearts Cora? Personification of evil, Cora? The Cora who's coming to destroy us all? _That_ Cora?'

Cora smirked. 'I see my reputation precedes me.'

'Belle, I can explain,' Rumple repeated lamely, panic tightening in his chest.

'Don't bother,' blurted Belle as she raced toward the door, trying, unsuccessfully, to make her escape before the tears began to fall.

* * *

Gold's heart was heavy as he approached the wharf. It was never supposed to be like this. Cora's globe had brought him so much closer to finding Bae at last. He should be sharing his joy with Belle. Instead, he found it tempered by the gripping fear of losing her - a fear that his constant failures had made all too familiar. He had wanted to chase after her when she left the shop, but he knew Belle too well for that. He hoped that his visit to Emma and Henry had given her enough time to calm down, to think, to be ready to talk to him again.

In fact, it had been enough time for her to cry all of her tears, so that sore red frames formed around her eyes as she sat on the bench by the water, hugging herself against the cold of night. Hearing footsteps approach, she knew it would be him. But she didn't turn.

Seeing her huddled against the cold, Gold instinctively removed his coat and draped it over her shoulders. He watched, waiting for her to reach up and flip her hair, releasing it from beneath the collar, as she always did. But she made no movement. Tenderly, Gold did it for her, gathering her dark locks in his hands and gently pulling them out from beneath the coat. As they slipped through his fingers, he wondered if this was it, if Belle's trust - her unending, unconditional devotion - was finally broken. Yesterday, she'd learnt of Milah, of how her beloved Rumple had killed his own wife in cold-blooded vengeance. And yet she'd stayed. But, surely, there was only so much she could take. Even angels have their limits.

He walked around the bench, and sat down beside her. For a long while, they stared silently ahead at the dark, restless water, both fearful to begin the conversation they knew they must have.

It was Belle - always the brave one - who broke the silence.

'What happened between the two of you?' she asked quietly.

Gold thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

'We... We shared something,' he said gently.

'What kind of something?'

'She needed to learn magic. I was her teacher.'

Belle scoffed. 'Well, call me prudish, but I certainly don't remember kissing any of my teachers.'

'No.' Gold swallowed. His whitewashed explanations weren't going to be good enough for Belle. He should have known that by now.

'With time, it... escalated into something more.'

'Something more.'

'Don't make me spell it out for you, Belle,' he pleaded.

'You... slept together?' It was half asked, half stated.

'Yes.'

Belle closed her eyes, feeling the icy wind caress her face.

'Did you love her?'

'I love _you,_ Belle.'

'That's not what I asked.'

Gold sighed, tightening his grip on his cane.

'Cora and I shared a common anger, a bitterness that we both understood. We connected over that - over our hatred, our desire for power and revenge. She spoke to the darkness in me. And I spoke to the darkness in her...'

His words were jagged, accented in scattered places by some trace of a long lost emotion. Something dark shining through. If dark things can shine.

Nausea washed over Belle as she envisioned the damaged relationship Rumple described. But she was determined to listen until the end.

'The darkness in me loved her. The person I was then, the Dark One... he loved her. As far as he was capable of love, he loved her. But Belle...' He reached out and placed his hand on top of hers where it lay in her lap. 'The goodness in me, the man, Rumplestiltskin... Rumple,' he choked on his tears as his voice fumbled awkwardly over her name for him, 'He loves you.'

Finally, she looked over at him. Her eyes searching his face, she asked, 'And which one of those people is the real you?'

Gold flinched, as if physically struck. He drew his hand away from Belle's, and she watched the hurt register in the crinkles around his eyes. He stood and wandered a few paces away, facing the water. When he spoke, his voice was small; it was nearly lost to the wind.

'How can you even ask me that, Belle?'

Belle stared at her hands a moment, her heart sinking with regret. She was the only person who'd ever believed that Rumplestiltskin was truly good at heart, and here she had let him think that she doubted him. All because she was jealous of a love of his past.

She stood and walked around in front of him.

'I'm sorry, Rumple,' she said, taking his hand.

'Oh, Belle,' he breathed, squeezing her hand. 'It's our last night together for a while. Let's not spend it fighting.'

Belle nodded, and stepped forward into his embrace. Stroking her hair, he whispered to her.

'You're my only true love. You know that, don't you?'

Belle smiled into his chest.

'I know.'

'And I'm sorry about what happened today... in the shop. She just... took me by surprise. It didn't mean anything.'

Belle drew back in order to look sternly into his face. 'I understand. But don't ever do it again. Or there will be severe consequences.'

Gold smiled.

'Yes, boss.'

'What did she want, anyway?' Belle asked as, hand in hand, they began the journey home.

'She gave me a globe.'

'A globe?'

'It's enchanted. It shows me Baelfire's exact location.'

Belle fell silent.

'I thought you'd be happy for me.'

'I am. It's just... What did she ask in return?'

'Nothing.'

She stopped walking.

'Rumple,' she said - no, c_ommanded,_ in that no-nonsense way of hers.

'What?'

'You said she was your student. Surely the first lesson you would've taught her is that everything has its price. What price did you pay for the globe?'

Gold sighed.

'All she wanted was for me to promise not to hinder her quest to repair her relationship with Regina.'

'And you really think that's all she wants?' Belle asked sceptically. 'To make up with Regina?'

'It's not really my concern, Belle. I'm just concerned with finding my son.'

'And if Cora's plans should endanger Storybrooke? If harm should come to the people who live here? To me? Would you be concerned then?'

'Sweetheart, I promise you, I will not let her harm you. Please, just trust me.'

He leaned forward to kiss her forehead before continuing in the direction of home.

'Well, I guess that conversation's over, then,' Belle muttered to herself.

* * *

Perched on the edge of the bed, in what had become their nightly ritual, Gold rhythmically ran a silver-handled brush through Belle's hair. The comfort was bittersweet this night, the lovers knowing that tomorrow would bring their separation.

Tentatively, Gold laid down the brush.

'I have to tell you something.'

He saw Belle's shoulders tense.

What could it be now?

Moving closer to her, he placed his hands on the soft skin of her shoulders, and spoke gently into her hair.

'No, sweetheart. It's nothing to fear.'

She relaxed a little, inclining her head slightly to listen to him.

'You remember that I told you of a dagger, the source from which my power is drawn.'

'Yes, I remember.'

'Whoever controls that dagger, controls me. And if someone were to use it to kill me, that person would take on the power of the Dark One.'

Belle turned to face him.

'I thought you said it was nothing to fear.'

'It's not,' he assured her. 'The dagger is safely hidden. It's just that, with me out of town, certain people might be tempted to search for it.'

'Cora,' Belle supplied.

'Or Regina. Or Captain Hook. Or somebody else. The point is, I need to entrust the location of the dagger to someone. Someone who won't be tempted to do the wrong thing. Someone I can trust. That can only be you, Belle.'

Belle gave him a small smile. She was happy that he trusted her so completely. But she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling, the creeping sense of dread, that seemed to surround all of this. It just didn't feel quite right.

'Knowing the location of the dagger could be a great burden, Belle. I don't want to force it on you, but-'

'Rumple,' she interrupted, shaking her head slowly, 'You know I'd do anything for you. You can trust me. I won't let you down. Tell me where it is.'

Pulling her close, Gold whispered his secret into her ear. Then, he reached for a vial on the bedside table, and held it out to her.

'What's this?'

'It's a potion. A memory protection spell, in case somebody tries to use magic to retrieve the dagger's location from your memory. The spell will allow you to shut them out of your memory, as long as you will it.'

* * *

'Oh, Belle, I so wish you were coming with me.'

He spoke to her warmly from where he stood, across the town line, whilst Emma and Henry waited in the car parked up ahead.

'As do I,' Belle replied with equal warmth, 'But... it doesn't matter.'

'Why not?'

'Because you'll find him. And, when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back.'

Rumplestiltskin felt as if his chest might explode. He didn't deserve this beautiful girl, her constant forgiveness, or the faith she put in him. But he was determined to make her proud, to prove that he was the man she believed him to be. Leaning across the line, he kissed her lovingly, his lips lingering against hers until she finally pulled away.

'I love you, Rumple.'

'And I love you, Belle.'

She stood and watched, and sadly smiled, until the car was out of sight.

She turned back towards Storybrooke just in time to see a cloud of blue smoke lingering in the still-warm shadow of someone who had been watching them from the forest.

'Cora.'

Not a very pretty name, is it? Sounds like something breaking.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

'Shouldn't we be pillaging his shop or ransacking his home?' asked an irritated Captain Hook.

This was exactly why women should stick to their pretty little games of stirring up trouble, and leave the swashbuckling to the men. Never send a queen - or worse, two queens - to do a pirate's job.

'That would be the obvious choice, yes,' replied Regina, equally exasperated with her childish adventurer of a companion as he was with her. 'But Gold wouldn't risk crossing the town line and losing his memory without entrusting the dagger's location to someone.'

'Belle.'

'My guess is she hid it in one of her beloved books.'

'Impressive, Regina,' Cora smiled, genuinely proud of her daughter's cunning.

'Thank you, Mother.'

Regina positively glowed, feeling almost loved, for the first time in months. Her smile only grew wider when she noticed the thinly folded piece of paper neatly slotted between two books, in the place her magic had indicated was most recently visited by Storybrooke's keen librarian. Her fingers itched with anticipation as she reached out to retrieve the paper and hand it to her mother, who unfolded it slowly.

'What's this?'

'Ah yes,' Hook smiled knowingly. 'Crude. To the untrained eye, a child's scribbles, but to a pirate... it's a map.'

Peering in through a crack in the door, Belle French matched their smug smiles with one of her own. A satisfied spring in her step, she set off for Mr Gold's home, hugging a stack of books close to her chest. In the middle of the pile, a false jacket concealing its identity from prying eyes, was the accomplice to her plan. She gave the stack a tight squeeze, thanking Providence for _Clandestine Cartography: A Beginner's Guide to Pirate Mapping._

* * *

Deciding to allow Hook and his wicked women to haunt the library undisturbed, Belle set about cleaning the house - old habits die hard, and she needed all the distraction she could get. A sudden sound startled her, and she whipped around to seek its source, wielding her pink feather-duster like a sword. She chuckled at her jumpiness as realisation dawned, and she dug through her handbag to answer the phone. But anxiety hit in a wave when she read Emma's name on the caller ID.

'Hello?'

'Belle.'

Not Emma's voice, but Rumple's.

'Rumple!' She sat down on the sofa, nervously clutching a royal blue cushion. 'Is everything okay?'

'Relax, Belle, everything's fine. I'm just calling, as requested, to let you know that we've arrived safely in New York.'

'Oh, good.' Belle let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd hated the idea of Rumple flying. Planes terrified her. She didn't understand how people in this world could trust them. They just seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. 'How was the flight?'

Rumple considered for a moment.

'The security procedures were an absolute nightmare... But the peanuts were outstanding.'

Belle couldn't bring herself to laugh at his quip; her concern was too great. He did a good job of keeping the tremor out of his voice, but Belle knew he was scared. He'd been working towards this day for more years than he could count. He'd put everything he had into this, his one chance to reconnect with his son, to mend what he had broken. If he failed... after all of this... it would destroy him. Now, more than ever, he needed courage. And she was the only one who could give it to him. Hugging the cushion to her chest, she desperately wished she could be there with him; there was so much she could tell him with one touch... Words were so much harder. A long silence passed between them. It was Rumple who broke it.

'Have you had any trouble from... anyone?' he asked, still somewhat awkward about discussing Cora with Belle.

'No.' Belle smiled. '_Anyone_ and her two companions are busy chasing geese.'

'I knew I could count on you, Belle,' said Rumple softly, glad that he could focus on Bae while knowing that his secret was safe with the one person he could completely trust.

Tears pricked Belle's eyes at the warmth of his voice. She drew her knees up and hugged the pillow tighter.

'I miss you,' she told him, her tone almost conciliatory, her words an offering.

She could just about hear his one-sided smile.

'It's only been six hours, Belle.'

'So? Don't you miss me?'

'Of course I do.' And his smile faded as he realised just how much he did miss her. How much he relied on her for strength.

'I don't think I can do this without you,' he confessed, his voice small.

'You can,' Belle promised him. 'Just... do the brave thing, and-'

'Bravery will follow?'

'Right,' she smiled; she had taught him well.

* * *

As Regina thrust her shovel into the earth for the thousandth time that day, her right heel sunk into the ground - for the thousandth time that day. She certainly hadn't anticipated this grubby little treasure hunt when she'd dressed that morning. Grunting in frustration, she reached down, tore the shoe from her foot and hurled it at an unsuspecting tree.

'It's no use, Mother,' she blurted. 'Your pretty little pirate friend must have misread the map.'

'No,' replied Cora evenly, after a pause. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she realised what had happened.

'No,' she repeated. 'Hook's good for exactly two things, and map reading is one of them.'

'Well then _why_ have we got nothing but bottletops and worms to show for the hour we - or should I say _I_ - have spent digging?'

Cora folded her arms across her chest, not quite sure if she was angry or impressed.

'That bookish little bitch tried to trick us.'

* * *

Snuggled on the sofa with a half-full tea cup and a half-finished novel, Belle had finally managed to relax. She allowed her mind to be swept away by the story - of a bright-eyed young governess who finds herself in love with her dark, hard-hearted master. Needless to say, Belle could sympathise. If she hadn't been so anxious to turn the page and discover the secret which prevented Mr Rochester from marrying his love, perhaps she would have heard the footsteps, or sensed the presence behind her. As it was, she remained oblivious to her intruder until...

_Poof!_

The book was gone in a puff of purple smoke.

'Wh...?'

She whipped around to find her poor novel in the clutches of Cora, who was flicking through its pages, an amused smile on her face.

'_Jane Eyre? _Really, dear? Stories like these give such a pathetic impression of love.'

'What would you know of love?' said Belle evenly, standing to make a lunge for the book, which Cora promptly poofed away.

Cora laughed, slowly shaking her head as she approached Belle, not stopping until their faces were mere centimetres apart. When she spoke, it was in a whisper, as if sharing a precious secret with a confidant.

'Oh, darling,' she said, 'I loved Rumplestiltskin in ways your sweet little mind could not even _imagine._'

Belle's stomach twisted as the words sank in, and all she wanted to do was look away from Cora's dark and penetrating eyes. But she forced herself to hold the queen's stare.

'Look,' Belle began, raising her chin slightly in the hope of mirror Cora's near-arrogant confidence, 'I don't know - or care to know - what kind of... _relationship_ you might have had with him. But I do know this...'

She stepped forward, closing the gap between them even more. Proving that she was not afraid.

'He never loved you.'

'You wicked, insolent girl!'

'If he had truly loved you,' Belle continued, enunciating every word, 'Your kiss would have broken his curse. Like mine did.'

Cora clenched her fists.

'Did you ever consider, little Belle, that I didn't _want_ to break his curse? I had no interest in changing him. Unlike you, I didn't try to make him into something he's not. No, I loved every dark and dusty corner of his black, black soul.'

'I don't make him into something he's not! I remind him of who he _truly is._'

In a heartbeat, Belle felt the air violently sucked from her lungs, and she heard, rather than felt, her body slam against the wall on the opposite side of the room. She saw Cora's hand raised, and watched as it conjured a garden of thorny vines to entrap her prisoner.

Evidently, the Queen of Hearts had had her fill of the librarian's lessons on life and love.

'Where is the dagger?!' she demanded through clenched teeth.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' said Belle, trying desperately not to struggle against the thorns which tore at her skin.

'Sadly, your talents at lying don't quite match up to your prowess for map-making. Now _tell me where it is._'

'If you claim to love him, why do you seek a weapon to murder him?'

'Murder him?' A slow smile spread across Cora's face. 'Oh, no, no, no, child. I'm not going to use the dagger to murder him.'

Belle's brow furrowed in confusion.

'I'm going to use it to _control _him.'

'Control him?'

'I left Rumple because I had to make a choice between love and power. My love for him was holding me back from reaching my goal. So I chose power over love. And I don't regret it. Not for a second. But now... with this dagger... I can have power over my love, and over his power. Do you see, my dear? I can have everything.'

'So, what? You're planning to keep him captive? Under your control? Like... like a pet?' asked Belle, her voice high with disgust.

'I suppose that's one way to describe it.'

'You can't force somebody to love you. Love isn't about having power over someone.' Belle's voice was suddenly quiet, soft... and she looked at Cora in a new way. 'Oh, Cora. You've never known love, have you?'

It made the queen's blood boil. _Does this pathetic little wench dare to pity me?_

'Tell me the location of the dagger.'

Belle shook her head.

'I will die before I betray him, Cora.'

'No. But you will die after.'

Cora approached Belle, and placed her hands on either side of the younger woman's head. Belle felt magic pass from Cora's hands, as the queen attempted to access her memories. After a few moments of trying, Cora stepped back.

'A memory protection spell.'

Cora had encountered these before. But she knew ways around them; Rumple had taught her well, after all. The spell would protect memories only as long as the subject wished it to. To access the memory, to find the dagger, the girl's will needed to be broken.

'You're coming with me.'

* * *

Belle hoped Cora couldn't hear her heart begin to beat faster as they ascended the steps to the clock tower above the library. Why was she bringing her here? Was it possible that she... ?

'What are we doing here?' Belle finally asked when they reached the top.

'You, my dear, are going to learn a little lesson about love.'

Cora pushed Belle, knocking her onto the floor. She summoned more of the same thorny vines, to tie Belle's wrists to the safety rails.

'You mentioned earlier,' said Cora, pacing casually back and forth, 'that you didn't know what kind of relationship Rumple and I had. Well, I think it's about time you found out.'

She waved her hand over the clock face, and on it appeared an image, somewhat hazy, of a pretty young girl and a familiar dark imp.

'Since you are so reluctant to share your memories with me,' Cora continued venomously, 'I thought I would share some of mine with you. Now, you watch these, Belle, and then you just _try_ to tell me that I have never known love.'

With a flick of the hand, and a puff of smoke, Cora was gone, and the memories on the clock face began to move and speak, just like a film. A private, one-time showing, to break Belle's heart.

* * *

And so, captive in the clock tower, Belle watched Cora and Rumple meet.

"_And what a marvellous coincidence that spinning straw into gold happens to be something I like to do. It's almost like... like fate."_

_ "Teach me. Don't just do it. Teach me."_

_ "You are a spicy one, aren't you?"_

She felt chills run down her spine as the two of them fed eagerly on each other's darkness.

"_Once, a man made me kiss his boot in front of my son. Now, in my mind, I go back, and I rip out his throat, and I crunch his veins with my teeth. And that, dearie, is how magic is made."_

_ "Bloodlust."_

_ "I like the phrase."_

Bloodlust. There was no better word to describe what she was seeing. Bloodlust manifested in a human relationship.

As Cora and Rumple's 'bloodlust' intensified, Belle closed her eyes against the torment of watching her love touch another. But she couldn't close her ears.

But after a while, everything became softer, and Belle knew that Cora and Rumple had shared something real. It wasn't true love. It was damaged, and it was dark. But it was real.

_ "I can give you nothing but darkness and isolation."  
"And love?"  
"Yes. And love."_

"_You owe me... my child."_

And she watched Cora choose power over love.

"_Whose heart is in the box?"_

And she understood, a little better, why the Queen of Hearts was so broken.

"_Mine. I had to. You told me not to let anything stop me until they're on their knees. My heart was stopping me."_

And she fitted another piece into the puzzle of Rumple's troubled past.

_ "You never loved me! Never!"_

* * *

When Cora returned, she found her prisoner slumped, red-eyed and exhausted against the railing.

'Well?' she asked simply. 'Are you ready to talk?'

Exhausted, Belle only stared at her in silence.

'No? Well, it's a good thing you don't have to.'

Cora stooped down, and knocked once more on the door of Belle's memory, fully expecting it to be ajar.

It was not.

Cora stepped back, perplexed.

'I don't understand. You stupid girl. Weren't you paying attention?' she snapped, her anger rising. 'Didn't you understand? We loved each other so much that I had to _rip my heart out_ to leave him behind!'

'I do understand, Cora. And it broke my heart. But it only strengthened my will to stand by him. Rumple has a dark past. I've always known that. And, Cora, all you are is just another chapter of that dark past. You're just another person who abandoned him. Who thought he wasn't enough. Who made him feel like power and magic were the only things he could rely on. You left him behind, just like every single person he's ever cared about. Except me. I will never-'

Belle's impassioned speech was interrupted by a crisp slap in the face.

'You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know the first thing about us.'

'Cora, you just forced me to watch hours of your memories. I know everything about you and Rumple.'

'Not everything.'

Cora drew a deep breath. She had never expected it to come to this. She had never expected the girl to be so strong. But there was only one way to find her happy ending. She needed the dagger. She needed to break the girl, even if only for a second. And she knew how it was to be done.

Crouching down, she took Belle's face in her hands once more. And she whispered a secret that no one else knew - not even Rumple.

Belle's will didn't break.

But, for a brief flicker of a moment, it cracked.

And that was all it took. With a triumphant smile, Cora lifted her gaze to the hands of the clock.

* * *

Groggy and aching, Belle squinted against the morning sun streaming through the clear face of the clock. The thorns in Cora's vines had just about ripped her arms to shreds. She didn't know how long it had been since Cora had made off with the dagger, but the time had been spent in a half-conscious state of remorse and fear.

A single tear dropped into her lap.

She had let Rumple down.

She had let him down.

Commotion on the street below suddenly broke the heavy silence of her sorrow. She craned her neck to see down into the street, where David and another man - a stranger... Baelfire? - were struggling to carry something into the shop.

No, not something. Someone.

Panic rose in Belle's throat and strangled her cry.

'Rumple!'


End file.
